Plea Negotiations and Reductions in Ohio OVI / DUI Cases

Ohio OVI defense attorney Brian Joslyn explains plea negotiations and reductions in Ohio OVI / DUI cases. Joslyn Law Firm is experienced in defending people accused of OVI offenses in Ohio. If you have been accused of a crime or arrested in Ohio, please call (614) 444-1900 to schedule a free initial consultation to discuss your case.

Now in the OVI world, if you’re being charged, as an attorney, a win in our world if you’re in plea negotiations is getting anything other than an OVI. and what I mean by that is not necessarily a dismissal, because it’s rare for them to just admittedly dismiss a case just because you explained it. But common reductions are physical control and reckless operation. Those are wins if you’re cutting deals in these cases. The reason that they’re wins is because it’s not an OVI and the label of that will follow you forever, it’s a scarlet letter. But these physical controls and reckless operations have less meaning for employment purposes. A physical control is a nonmoving violation and doesn’t necessarily mean that you were impaired. A reckless operation, it can be a number of things, but it doesn’t necessarily have to deal with impairment either. Each of those offenses have advantages and disadvantages as it relates to your record, more importantly, your BMV record. A physical control is a nonmoving violation and has 0 points attached to your record which will have less implications on your insurance. A reckless operation, depending on which reckless operation it is, is either a 2 point or a 4 point violation on your BMV record which could have adverse effects on your license. So those are common wins if you’re in the world of negotiation. Now sometimes, they’re not willing to negotiate those types of offers. And that’s where we have a decision to make. Do we press on if we have legal issues or do we cut our losses short. And that really just depends on a case to case basis as to whether you have a good fight.